: And then there's the red Field Marshal. Honestly, that was just a bad move in
: general.

: I think a lot of 343i's art elements look good in isolation.

: Wait, let me rephrase that.

: To a certain kind of artist, and possibly a wide selection of gamers, the art
: elements in 343i's games look excellent when taken one at a time. The new
: Ranger armor might look impressive seen at full resolution on a light gray
: background (Or whatever Zbrush uses). Similarly, the sounds that the guns
: make probably sound good, played one at a time in whatever audio editor
: they use.

: I can't help but think of an orchestra. An individual oboe or violin can
: sound absolutely bitchin' on their lonesome. But in an orchestra, they
: only have to sound good and do their part. Does that make sense?

Actually it does, and it's in fact one of the most important basis of design. In the book "101 Things I Learned in Architecture School" (almost my bible when I need ideas at work), it marks this as an especially important point in design, marking everything as parts of a whole rather than pieces being individually strong.

Paraphrasing the book, you would get laughed at if you wore your favorite jeans, your favorite shirt, your favorite jacket, and your favorite shoes all at once. A lot of elements need to be toned down to let others, more important ones shine.

On Halo, Promethean Knights do look badass, but the whole Promethean Warrior-Servants have to look similar to Forerunner Aesthetic and to themselves in order to be similar. Likewise, in the original Halo trilogy, the less elaborate armor was for the low enemies, while the most striking colors and more ornate armor were the strongest enemies you had to be careful about.